I Love The Smell Of Burning Straw In The Morning

In the future, when the United States is not directly threatened, “the threshold for military action must be higher,” Mr. Obama said. He presented the choice in binary terms, suggesting that his critics want to use force to solve many of the world’s troubles.

In some ways, that was a straw-man argument, since even his fiercest opponents do not advocate American ground forces to counter Russian intervention in Ukraine or to stop the civil war in Syria. But some critics say Mr. Obama seems to have grown more allergic to American power since his own intervention in Libya yielded a messy outcome.

And from the Times editors:

President Obama and his aides heralded his commencement speech at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Wednesday as a big moment, when he would lay out his foreign policy vision for the remainder of his term and refute his critics. The address did not match the hype, was largely uninspiring, lacked strategic sweep and is unlikely to quiet his detractors, on the right or the left.

However, they offer an upbeat conclusion:

This was far from Mr. Obama’s big moment. But since he has no office left to run for, what matters ultimately is his record in the next two and a half years.

I begin to wonder if there is a single bureaucrat that works for the the Obama Administration, that has appeared before a Congressional Investigating Committee, who has actually shown up at the Hearing and produced the data or documents that he or she has been previously tasked with providing.

Colmes: For example, I never heard of a president before questioned about his birth certificate, being treated as if he was a foreign, “not one of us,” “he’s a secret Muslim;” doesn’t that arise out of some sort of soft bigotry?

Carson: Well, I would say that the best way to put that to rest is expose everything, including your academic records. Let us know, you know, where did you apply - when you applied to Columbia, from where were you applying?

Colmes: - at Occidental. But he’s released both versions of a birth certificate, and that wasn’t even enough for those who kept criticizing him for not releasing the information. They said, “that’s not real.” They continue to say it wasn’t real.

Carson: But don’t you think, and try to be totally objective in answering this question -

Colmes: Okay

Carson: Don’t you think it is reasonable for people who are seeking public office, or are in public office, to allow people to see what they’re getting, and to expose their past records?

Colmes: (overlap) No that’s fair. What you said is fair, but you just said a few moments ago, would you have the same reaction were it a white person versus a black person, no white president has ever been asked to produce a birth certificate.

Carson: But has there been anybody else who has had a shroud of secrecy around their records like this?

Colmes: Do you have any question about whether he was born in this country?

Carson: I do have questions about where he applied from, when he applied to Columbia.

Colmes: But do you have any questions about whether he was born in the United States?

Carson: That has not been an issue for me.

Colmes: So you know he was born in Hawaii?

Carson: I accept that that’s the case.

Colmes: So what I’m saying is that the birther movement, questioning whether the president was even born here, saying he’s really a Kenyan, he’s really an African, and he’s not even a Christian, he’s really a Muslim, a white president never had to go through that.

Carson: I don’t think that it is racially motivated. I do think that people want to know, because, you know, be objective, you have somebody whose name is Barack Hussein Obama -

Colmes: Right.

Carson: - there is secrecy about some of his records, there’s something that’s been written in the past which I’m sure you’re familiar with that says he was born somewhere else -

Colmes: Do you believe that?

Carson: I don’t believe that’s true, no, but what I’m saying is that there is reason that some people might be suspicious. I’m not one of them

(If so, she can probably use the exposure. In 2012, she won 49-48, in a district (the 2nd) Romney carried 56-42. Granted, she had a tougher opponent than most, Brendan Mullen, and Iraq war vet who campaigned as a moderate.)

ILLINOIS:
"*A Senate committee signed off on a proposal that would put yet another question on the fall ballot, this time asking voters whether health insurance companies in Illinois should be required to provide birth control as part of their coverage plans. That’s already law in Illinois, prompting Republicans to claim the move was aimed at encouraging women to turn out at the polls."

Hey, everyone. Wish I could hang around more, but I've gotten too busy -- and burnt out on politics. It just seems to boil down to which set of thieves will screw us over hardest, and I don't see any of the politicians acting seriously.

thanks for that driverless car link. yikes, don't think I like the future that I see there.

with all that "shrinking of markets" (iirc a big part of the plan is to make transportation "driverless" in the Google future) which got me thinking ... is there any research or projects ongoing to "shrink the market" for farm labor. Build machines that can pick the crops in the fields. The front end development would be expensive but would think overtime a machine with a 7-10 year service life would be a sellable venture.

Thanks, Beasts. Of course there are matches that play through 18 holes and even beyond as I remember.

My only claim to fame as I told my story here on this blog I beat my opponent 10 and eight and then we were in the club house where I had to buy her drinks for the rest of the afternoon...and she was quite the drinker :-) Her husband ran Safeco out of Seattle in the day so I think she was used to the cocktail routine.

Very astute, the station chief in Kabul coordinates with special forces, is tied into
drone target selection, detention operations,
such as we have any in Bagram for instance, all the tip of the spear stuff,

this fellow reportedly served in Latin America, prior to his assignment in Kabul, he wasn't as tight with Karzai as his predecessor, ironically
now Karzai might relate to him better, since he knows what is like to be thrown under the bus,

there is a parallel although not a reassuring one, Richard Welch was burned by Phillip Agee, for some of the counterinsurgency work the former had done in Latin America, the group that iced him November 17th, saw themselves like the Tupamaros, the Montoneros,all those groups that followed Marighela's handbook, the one what Billy Ayers swore by,

Obama believes. He simply cannot relate to Army Cadets. He thinks that they are his SERVANTS and are waiting for HIM to impart deep thoughts upon them. Obama is psychologically warped. He thinks he's smart. He really does. And he is condescending to our military. What really sucks is those in the military that lick Obama's butt for their own gains.

maybe there should be pickets with pics, every appearance she has, really 'what difference does it make,' there's loads of material, Boko Haram
will be making fresh carnage, the reset will be working out, in the Balkans, that was the nazgul
Code Pink strategy,

I love the sentiment, but in fact it reflects the great fallacy of the 20th Century, best illustrated by the editors of the New York Times regarding the Soviet Union: it would all be wonderful if only the right people were in charge.

The VA is a catastrophic failure for precisely the reason that the Soviet Union and the NHS have been failures: the bureaucratic monopoly has always been, is now, and will forever be an organism that acts in one way, and one way only, whether populated by saints or three-card Monte artists. It acts, even unconsciously, to protect itself, to aggrandize its power, and to punish its critics. It is inherently incapable of having any regard for those it is supposed to serve; nothing it does to serve them benefits it in any way.

You could appoint tomorrow the Holy Ghost, the Twelve Apostles and El Cid to head the VA, and bothing would change at all. Never has, never will. The form of organization and its funding ensure the result, with no exception.

Maybe, although if Nixon had instituted waiting lists like this, recall he was mopping up a war, he didn't start, I think they would have made an article of impeachment, From the looks of it, Shinseki didn't do anything in five years, while the budgets got bigger, what's the appropriate tort criminal negligence, malfeasance, et al

If OBAMACARE is DA BOMB. Why do we need the V.A healthcare system at all. My family is a MILITARY family. I want all military and all VETS to get TOP NOTCH treatment. Why separate facilities for VETS?? Why not give them the REALLY REALLLY GROOOOOVY Obamacare that is beyond AWESOME??
Anyone???

Narciso, I've come to learn that many lib peeps, never believed in Global Warming, et al, but became part of THE CLUB, because other LIBTARD ASSOCIATES were part of that CAUSE. The SHARED LIBTARD CAUSE, theory by GUS. The FRAUDULENT POLITICS of CONVENIENCE. Obama is part of numerous Marxist, Libtard, Commie, race-based and never LOGIC nor FACT based drama's. Obama was NEVER EVER EVER NEVER for GAY MARRIAGE, until he saw POLITICAL ADVANTAGE. Conversely, OBAMA has NEVER EVER EVER been in any way a backer of our Military. Not in any way. But, he postures his ugly ASS as the backer and protector of our BEST OF THE BEST. He is NOT. He could not care less. Obama's only cause, is the GOVERNMENT being in control of your LIFE. And OBAMA being in charge of the THAT GOVERNMENT.

Good morning. Today is the feast of the Ascencion and Belgium is shut down. We are taking my S-I-L to the airport in Brussels then we go to the Cathedral for mass. After mass we'll take Frederick over to the Palais then down to the Grand Place and over to see Mannekepis.

Jack!! The Grand Platz is beautiful, but I spent one of the most miserable days of my life there. December 26, pouring rain, a one day, day trip before moving on to Edinburgh. Wet beyond belief!! God bless Jack.

DoT, I could argue that the benefit of having the VA was that it teaches medical students just how horrendous government run health care is. I had only one rotation there as a student, and the Ann Arbor VA is one of the best in the nation,but it made it perfectly clear that having bureaucrats make health decisions is a disaster. Didn't hurt to do another round at the Jamaica Plains VA as an intern.

You are right--it's the nature of the beast that causes the problems.

I want these people to be prosecuted and go to prison, not just get fired. What they did is criminal, and they did it out of greed.

"The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is questioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the agency’s decision to prosecute a tree-trimmer who accidentally knocked herons out of a tree."

Miss Marple, there has to be some place for those law school grads to go to pay off their massive student loans, either chasing the ambulance or servicing it. If they're anything like the VA's IT people, they came from the lower third of their classes.

Get kids to borrow exorbitant amounts of money on mediocre law degrees, glutting the market. Then put them to work in a huge bureaucracy where they spend their time being paid taxpayer money to withhold information on how incompetent their department is, while veterans don't get medical treatment and the government MAKES MONEY off the student loan interest!

(Herein is the part where you imagine my eyes shooting flames while my hair stands on end.)

I would like to see an ad where they show how $100 of tax money is divided. People think their tax money is going to defense and such.

You could have someone with $100 in $1 bills. And have a whole lot of people lined up.

First you would have a Chinese guy who would take a big chunk for loan interest. Then you could have some suitably annoying layabouts who grab entitlement money. Then EPA creeps and education grifters and the like.

You could finally get to the nice young military man and had him some pocket change.

Morning. The climate disrupted our lawn and flowers with a heavy frost last night.
Did anyone see Congressman Michaud on F&F this morning? The VA scandal is making life difficult for him. He is a union man and a defender of the veterans. He began his life in Maine politics as the union rep for the paper millworkers at his hometown mill. If you saw the interview,he also protected Obama.

I want these people to be prosecuted and go to prison, not just get fired. What they did is criminal, and they did it out of greed.

Exactly. They falsified records in order to pad their own salaries, and conspired to do so with others, stealing money from the taxpayers.

I would give a lot for a new president that decided to prosecute the previous administration rather than turn the page and other cheek. All he'd have to do is appoint a special prosecutor. Actually we'd need one for each agency: IRS, ATF, EPA, DoJ, DoS, surely HUD is corrupt, VA, Energy, ...

LONDON – Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have agreed to set up an economic union, in a deal signed Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterparts, media reports said. The Eurasian Economic Union reunites the former Soviet countries in a project to develop a shared market and to harmonize economic policy, beginning January 1, 2015. Ukraine was in talks to join the union before the ouster of former president Viktor Yanukovych by opposition groups focused on an EU alliance.

DoT@12:33am is of course completely right about the VA, and, needless to say, the point applies to 404Care and must be hammered into any R who says it can be "fixed" or even "replaced." This is an opportunity for Rs to come out for dismantling the VA and giving vets something like vouchers for private care.

MM, your 7:42 suggestion would be an even better teaching device if you started with the income side.

Take those 100 people and ask 50 of them to stand aside and pay nothing. Then take the next 10 and ask them to pay a few dollars, and the next 10 and so on until you get to the last two groups of 10 and ask them to pay 80% of all income taxes required.

I would like to see an ad where they show how $100 of tax money is divided. People think their tax money is going to defense and such.

The WSJ had something like that a while back, I'm guessing around April 15th. I can't find a link at the moment. It missed the fact that for every dollar of taxes, the government is spending much more than a dollar, but it did show proportionally where all the money is being spentwasted.

You thought yesterday was a bad day for Zero? And of course it was, but just wait for today. Those mugs from the VA Admin were from central casting for unemotional, incompetent drones. Its fun to watch the anger from Democrats, cuz you know its real, they are really really mad that their control on power is put to the match by their bureaucratic brethren. Delish.

The VA is a catastrophic failure for precisely the reason that the Soviet Union and the NHS have been failures: the bureaucratic monopoly has always been, is now, and will forever be an organism that acts in one way, and one way only, whether populated by saints or three-card Monte artists. It acts, even unconsciously, to protect itself, to aggrandize its power, and to punish its critics. It is inherently incapable of having any regard for those it is supposed to serve; nothing it does to serve them benefits it in any way.

My sister was previously employed as an attorney for the VA. If I recall, the bulk of work her office did revolved around contracts (new construction, equipment leasing/maintenance, etc) and compliance (audits, record keeping, retention, EEO, and HR disputes such as trying to fire someone for, say, not doing their job).

Of very few times she mentioned something to do with actual Health Care, the minority of them had to do with veterans themselves - and the typical advice was 'just do it/get it done'; the rest were defending Drs in malpractice suits - though I believe settling out of court was the goal.

I've no idea is 700 lawyers is too many for the enterprise, but it doesn't sound wrong to me given the scope of operation:

VA’s health care system now includes 153 medical centers, with at least one in each state, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. VA operates more than 1,400 sites of care, including 909 ambulatory care and community-based outpatient clinics, 135 nursing homes, 47 residential rehabilitation treatment programs, 232 Veterans Centers and 108 comprehensive home-care programs.

DiBlasio is seizing on the important issues: First horse-drawn carriages (banning), now ferrets (un-banning). So how many people would really think that replacing the carriage rides in Central Park with lots of pet ferrets is an improvement? And regardless, how many people think that the ban on pet ferrets is an issue that the mayor should work on in his first six months in office.

Though I would actually prefer diBlasio waste his time on such things.

The malignant narcissism makes the Chauncy Gardiner analogy inapt. Chauncy was passively stupid,the President has always been actively stupid. His organ grinders were able to mask the stupidity through exercise of a modicum of control (Tribe kept him in a closet with a paste pot and crayons) but their refusal to worship his stupidity offended his narcissistic sensibility and he has fired all but the most obsequious.

His inability to recognize the very inferior quality of his communication staff is a very strong marker of his innate lack of intelligence. I find the President to meet all my expectations regarding performance by a progressive with faculty lounge orientation.

All I have to say is that whatever your sister was doing, there seem to be a high number of VA attorneys who are now concerned solely with reviewing documents that the House Committee has requested, said reviews taking months and months with no documents provided.

Since the records do not seem to have anything to do with national security, I must assume that the VA lawyers are stalling while being paid with taxpayer money.

Hence my anger. And I DO think 700 is too many. Reviewing contracts and such doesn't require 700.

I suppose they could do what most large, multi-state private business do by cutting that in-house number by about half, then putting a dozen or two large private law firms on retainer, outsourcing 1/3d of the work.

I agree that the VA is unworkable, regardless of who's running it. But that should not stop us from firing those caught in the most recent round of falsified reports and their supervisors who knew or should have known about it.

I am also enraged that the VA has SEVEN HUNDRED ATTORNEYS who are holding all of the requested documents for review.

I saw this yesterday about how the Parks Department(!) redacted documents (about the park shutdowns) requested under FOIA. Unfortunately for them, the recipient of the letters made them available, so that we can see what was being redacted.

marlene:
I saw Michaud speaking at the hearing and was unimpressed. Unions are behind this as Jesse said yesterday on "The Five" It is very difficult to fire a union member. They are redacting and shredding as we speak. Michaud will side with the unions as Bernie sanders has by not supporting repub legislation to fire their -sses. Sanders has his own reform bill supposedly. I wonder if Reid will allow Repub amendments which require some people to be fired and criminally prosecuted? Scandal is not going away much as this WH wishes it would. Ditto Benghazi, F&F. IRS, NSA spying, soon to be released names by Snowden should be interesting and of course the VA debacle and release of a covert agent's name. Who is this person by the way? Repubs should offer a special prosecutor to look into which person made the Prosecutable error in judgement.

MM:
I also think to redact info is illegal. Dems are scrambling right now in a CYA mode. They figure if they stall and shred enough no one will be fired or prosecuted. I want a Repub congress after the midterms to make this a TOP priority in determining who did this and perp walk their fannies in the open market for all to see these traitors in the flesh. Imaging taking bonusses for denying care!
Just the looks on some of those cadets faces yesterday was very revealing. They revile him and won't be his patsies for Climate Control.